Ima Prescriptivist holds that ought judgments ("You ought to do this") are identical in meaning to simple imperatives ("Do this").
Ima Prescriptivist holds that ought judgments ("You ought to do this") are identical in meaning to simple imperatives ("Do this").
"Ought" is universalizable (entails the same evaluation about any similar case), while simple imperatives aren't. "You ought to do this" is closer to "Do this and let everyone do the same in similar cases."
We needn't make similar imperatives about similar cases. I can say "Have chocolate" to myself one day, and "Have vanilla" the next, even though nothing has changed.
Ima Prescriptivist holds that ought judgments ("You ought to do this") are identical in meaning to simple imperatives ("Do this").
"Ought" is universalizable (entails the same evaluation about any similar case), while simple imperatives aren't. "You ought to do this" is closer to "Do this and let everyone do the same in similar cases."
We needn't make similar imperatives about similar cases. I can say "Have chocolate" to myself one day, and "Have vanilla" the next, even though nothing has changed.